Abstract
Young children experience traumatic events at high rates. Early childhood special education programs are an optimal time for implementing trauma-informed care. Minimal research has been done to understand early childhood special education teachers’ attitudes and experiences with trauma-informed care. Using a convergent mixed methods approach, this study explored early childhood special education teachers’ (N = 25) attitudes and experiences with trauma and trauma-informed practices. Results indicate that early childhood special education teachers’ attitudes and experiences do not always align.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Patricia Marek and Anna Kim for their assistance with data analysis.
Funding
This study was supported by Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education: Project Ti3: Trauma-Informed Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education, and Social Work (Grant No. H325K180123).
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Appendix A: Interview protocol
Appendix A: Interview protocol
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1.
How would you define trauma?
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a.
What has influenced how you define trauma?
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b.
How have experiences in the classroom impacted your definition?
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a.
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2.
Tell me about the intersections you see between trauma and development
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a.
What about social emotional/language/cognitive development?
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b.
How do you help manage kids social-emotional needs in the classroom?
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a.
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3.
Talk about some challenging behaviors you experience in the classroom
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a.
How do you problem solve those behaviors?
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b.
How did you learn those strategies?
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a.
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4.
What are your experiences with trauma, trauma-informed practices, and young children?
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a.
What are some trauma-informed practices that you implement?
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b.
How do you feel in these situations?
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c.
How did you learn these practices?
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a.
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5.
What does the term “resilience” mean to you?
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a.
What are some ways you promote resilience in the classroom?
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a.
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6.
Anything else you would like to add about trauma, trauma-informed, resilience, or anything else we've talked about today?
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Chudzik, M., Corr, C. & Wolowiec-Fisher, K. Trauma: Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Attitudes and Experiences. Early Childhood Educ J 51, 189–200 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01302-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01302-1